Ed Catmull

From a very early age, the message is drilled into our heads: Failure is bad; failure means you didn__ study or prepare; failure means you slacked off or__orse!__ren__ smart enough to begin with. Thus, failure is something to be ashamed of.

The goal, then, is to uncouple fear and failure__o create an environment in which making mistakes doesn__ strike terror into your employees_ hearts.

Negative feedback may be fun, but it is far less brave than endorsing something unproven and providing room to grow.

Trust doesn't mean that you trust that someone won't screw up_ it means you trust them even when they do screw up.

When it come to creative inspiration, job titles and hierarchy are meaningless.

This principle eludes most people, but it is critical: You are not your idea, and if you identify too closely with your ideas, you will take offense when they are challenged.

It isn't enough to pick a path__ou must go down it. By doing so, you see things you couldn't possibly see when you started out; you may not like what you see, some of it may be confusing, but at least you will have, as we like to say, "explored the neighborhood." The key point here is that even if you decide you're in the wrong place, there is still time to head toward the right place.

But I should caution that if you seek to plot out all your moves before you make them__f you put your faith in slow, deliberative planning in the hopes it will spare you failure down the line__ell, you__e deluding yourself. For one thing, it__ easier to plan derivative work__hings that copy or repeat something already out there. So if your primary goal is to have a fully worked out, set-in-stone plan, you are only upping your chances of being unoriginal.

I feel like the only reason we__e able to find some of these unique ideas, characters, and story twists is through discovery. And, by definition, __iscovery_ means you don__ know the answer when you start.

The roller coaster came to a stop and a good friend got off, but what a ride we'd taken together. It had been one hell of a trip.

At the U of U, we were inventing a new language. One of us would contribute a verb, another a noun, then a third person would figure out ways to string the elements together to actually say something.